Golf: Panuphol Pittayarat stays top at Laguna after carding 68 in round two

Panuphol Pittayarat tees off at hole 17 at The Championship at Laguna National on Thursday. For the second straight day, Thai upstart Panuphol Pittayarat stood alone atop the leaderboard at The Championship at Laguna National. -- ST FILE PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

By Sanjay Nair

FOR the second straight day, Thai upstart Panuphol Pittayarat stood alone atop the leaderboard at The Championship at Laguna National.

The Bangkok native carded a four-under-par 68 on Friday for a two-round total of 131 and a one-stroke edge over a chasing pack that included Australian hard-hitter Scott Hend (65) and Chile's Felipe Aguilar (67).

The 21-year-old Pittayarat, who was nicknamed "Coconut" by his parents, said: "It's nice to be putting myself in a good position heading into the last two rounds. I'd rather stay up here than to be chasing the lead actually."

However, it was not a good day for Singapore No. 1 Mardan Mamat (71), who missed the cut by two shots. Quincy Quek (74) and Lam Chih Bing (67) were the only locals from a six-strong contingent to make it into weekend play at the $1.89 million event, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours.